Happy Holidays!

I just knitted these goofy lobsterclaw-looking mittens for my cousin. Just what every teenager was hoping for this Christmas.



See you next week!

Kool Aid Socks

Imagine that this one is bound off and partnered with another just like it!



These pink socks were knitted in k2p2 ribbing, toe up (short row heel) from knitpicks fingering weight color your own that I dyed using cherry and grape kool aid. I would've preferred slightly more vibrant colors – maybe next time.

Hopefully these will help keep my feet warm on the long cold trek to the office. And this means that I can FINALLY start a new pair of socks. I'm trying to resist, but I don't know how much longer I can fight off the jaywalker!

Tannenbaum!

I finished my Tannenbaum! Check it out...



I decided to leave off the star and just knit to a point at the top. This was a quick and fun project and I completed it just in time. I'll try to post better photos tomorrow, I had to take these by myself.

A Shawl and a Promise

Ayyyyy, the knitting in my life, it has been sparse and not at all photogenic. I completed another row of branches on my Tannenbaum. This would be a perfect subway knit except for the fact that I'm using little bells that jingle as I knit. Can you imagine how fast I would get my ass kicked if I sat on the subway making jingly noises the whole time?

And that old kool-aid dyed pink sock, I'm working on that too. Fortunately it’s the second of the pair, because I'm totally starting to hate it.

Remember way back there a few posts ago I was all bold with listing my projects and promising FOs and whatnot? What happened to that girl? I finished one neckwarmer and then nothing.

I have good excuses - life got totally crazy on me. I mean WAY more than the normal Christmas crazy. I had to buy a whole special notebook for all the to do lists! But still, it's pathetic that I haven't seamed up that Rogue, and there are two other sweaters out there just waiting for sleeves and necks. SO, I am promising, here on this blog, that I will have a special new finished object by Monday, and it wont be that lame pair of pink socks.

To distract us all in the meantime, here is a photo (oooh, naughty, taken in my office) of a Kimono Shawl in progress.



I'm using Jade Sapphire Cashmere Silk and although it is a pain in the ass to wind, and waaay expensive, it is the softest thing I've ever knit. By the way, Monday's FO will definitely NOT be this shawl.

I Wish I Could Knit It

Thank you all for stopping by and leaving comments about Mt. Cashmere! I cant wait to get back to the knitting, and meet up with my new eight legged friends this Friday.

There hasn’t been much knitting going on over here, and I've been a terrible blogger, but I have three excuses. The first two are long and involved and relate to work and blah blah stressful boring. The third is funny - ha ha funny, not weird funny. If you knew me personally, it might make you laugh (it seems to have had that affect on all the real live people I’ve told so far).

Because I am a cheapskate and a dumbass, I am trying to make my own wedding veil.

Oh yes, nuptial plans are afoot (and have been for quite some time, I’m just a veilmaking slacker) and the deadline is SWIFTLY approaching. Like, we are now counting in days rather than months. 33. Days. Left.

Do you know how much a wedding veil costs? For a cheesy looking piece of tulle? Oooh, so much more than it should.

I took Home EC. And I can knit socks and lace. I can do this! (Right?)

I’ve got the tulle, I’ve got the sparkly headband, I’ve got the ribbon for the edges, and I’ve got the sparkly beads to glue on the ribbon. (The previous sentence now makes me wonder if I went overboard on the sparkle.)

Here it is so far...



The eagle eyed reader may notice that it is resting atop my still unfinished Rogue.

I’ve glued my fingers together 87 times already, and I am so sick of this project that I’m now thinking $5,000 is a reasonable price for a piece of tulle with beaded ribbon sewed to the edge. Hooray for the blessed union into which I am about to enter.

Bigger Than A Breadbox

Friday night I met up with the Spiders for the first time – what fun! I got to check out some awesome handspun and learn how the rest of the world pronounces clapotis (um, not like clap – O – tis).

But those ladies are ENABLERS. There was much talk of yarn, of course, and yarn shops, including the fabled School Products.

By 11 am on Saturday morning I was on my way home with this beast.



Note the diet coke thrown in for scale. And here’s another shot with a standard size pen.



Yikes! That's 1600 yards of cashmere/merino blend. The helpful folks at school products instructed me to use size 10.5 needles and not to freak out if it looked and felt weird knitted up. The yarn is covered with spinning oil, and the FO must be washed in the washing machine to remove the oil and prompt the yarn to fill out. The swatch in the store felt bunny-soft.

I’m thinking I’d like to make a nice cozy sweater for myself, maybe with some cabling? Maybe not? Nothing too close fitting, and nothing with a turtleneck, because I think I’d die an itchy overheated death in about 10 minutes. Instead, maybe something akin to a big wearable blanket. Yet still flattering and not enormous. And knit on size 10.5 needles. Is that possible? Has anyone heard of such a thing? What have I gotten myself into?

Handspun Neckwarmer

Sorry about the awful bathroom mirror shot and the dorky lawyer suit, I'll take a normal photo as soon as I find a satisfactory photographer. This neckwarmer was made from fabulous handspun Tramp yarn created over at Insubordiknit. I cast on 77 stitches and knit back and forth on big needles (size 10, I think?) in 6 x 1 ribbing. Once it reached about 10" I bound off and seamed it up to make a big tube. The kooky ribbing helped eliminate some of the curl and give it just a little bit of stretch.

My favorite thing about this neckwarmer (other than the awesome yarn, of course) is the lack of flappy scarf ends and the fact that it can be loose and slouchy, snug and cozy, or even up on the head over the ears.

I have a bit of a history with tube shaped neck garments. When I was in 8th grade, we used to shop at the Quaker Bridge Mall for all our '80s fashions. There was a Limited, Limited Express, Gap, and the elusive Units and Au Coton. Unsurprisingly, these stores no longer exist, but oooh how I loved them. The basic concept at Units involved semi stretchy cotton tubes of fabric (sometimes with sleeves) that you could layer. The smaller tubes were ideal as big wide belts (out of which you could generously blouse your shirt), way too tight mini skirts, and, my favorite, accent pieces for the neck area (we called them neckies). If memory serves, Au Coton had a bunch of oversized t-shirts and tank tops, but also sold the stretchy accent tubes. In a pinch, sometimes I'd also just tie a bandana around my neck. Yikes!

Terrifyingly, this winter neckwarmer is somehow reminiscent of those tragic 80s fashions, but I love it just the same.

Updated to add:

Here is a much better photos of my neckwarmer:



And a closeup:



And, in other exciting news, I've been invited to join the Spiders! Looking forward to meeting all of you on Friday night at the Point!

Need for Closure

I haven't been very productive knit-wise as of late. First, I'm generally not a holiday gift knitter. I kinda stress out around the holidays, for no good reason. So, aside from the assorted random joke knitted gifts (beer cozies, goofy headbands, etc) I don't like to add to my holiday freakout by imposing knitting deadlines on myself. The only knitted gift I'm planning on is a pair of big fuzzy mittens.

Nevertheless, I think I need to light a little fire under my knitting self. I'm going on a great big trip on January 16th and I'd love to have ALL of my current projects finished before I go. (That way, I have a great excuse to start something exciting and new!) Soooo, I'm going to do a little list of all my knits in progress here for you all on the internets, in the hopes that it will shame me into finishing up some of these things!

Rogue – I am pathetic. I love this sweater and all I need to do is seam it up. Really, I should be ashamed of myself.


Union Square Market Sweater – This sweater needs one and a half sleeves and a collar, both of which need a little design help from me. Still, I should be able to finish this in one weekend morning of knitting.

Pink Socks – Oooh, I am sick of you pink socks. Your kool aid smell and non-stretchy yarn have me bored. I will finish you just so I can move on to new socks and be free of your Strawberry Shortcake colorway (for which I have only myself to blame).



Tannenbaum – You are fun! With beads! And jingly bells! And I am an ass if I don't finish you before Christmas. So you are very near the top of the list. And I love your lack of finishing. That bodes well.

Black Neckie – This yarn makes me smile, and the weather is getting cold. Things are looking good for this project. Very good. The only problem – does it need matching wristies?



Manos Sweater – Ha ha, internets – you didn't even know I had this sweater (or, um, vest). This is a sweater of my own design and, as such, is languishing now that I have finished knitting the easy parts. The elusive Manos Sweater has yet to be captured on film in the wild.

Green wrap – This is the Kimono shawl from Folk Shawls and it is so pretty and soft, but I have to pay attention when I knit it. Lately that's been asking a little too much. This one may not make the January 16 deadline. This one is also too elusive (or small?) for photographs.

Ok, that’s embarrassing. And it doesn't even include my cousin's mittens and the inevitable felted clogs. Or the unassembled baby sweaters and blankets hanging out under my bed, now way too small for their intended recipients.

I hereby vow to you, oh readers of the internet, that I will try very hard to have one completed knit item to post about tomorrow.

Shangri - Lion

All of you New York knitters – I found something very unusual tonight. We hear people in other parts of the country asking each other about yarn snobbery. We hear talk of “Lion Brand” and “unnatural fibers” and perhaps we wonder what they speak of. People come to our fair city and they have yarn crawls. They go to Purl for the Lobster Pot Cashmere, the Point for the rainbow of Lorna’s, Habu for the funky stuff. We have no shortage of fancy-pants yarn.

But lets say I want to knit a little sweater for a friend’s 2 year old son. Do I want to buy 8 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, or perhaps $100 worth of Koigu? Hooo, no. I want something cute, cheap, and machine washable. I want the Lion Brand Wool Ease. But where? Where is that mystery haven of cheap and squeaky yarn?

My secret goal, always, is to spend less on yarn than I would on the sweater, were I to buy it at, say, the Gap. Is this possible in Manhattan?

Oh yes. Yes it is.



There is Patons Kroy sock yarn (on sale!).



A bargain bin with skeins the size of my head!



And, my favorite, enough Patons classic merino to make 80,000 felted clogs.



I was lucky to escape with only enough for 2 or 3 more pairs.



(And $30 worth of notions and tulle, for a very different sparkly little project that I’ll blog about soon.)

But where? Where is this mecca of cheap ass yarn? Why, its PS Fabrics.



You can find it at 355 Broadway, about 3 blocks south of Canal Street. Grrrr.